The masters games were played in a wonderful spirit, the over 40's of Ireland and the Australian over 35's served up two very enjoyable games and a brilliant experience for all involved.
The seniors was something totally different, something ugly that i've seen before and that is greatly admired in Irish (and Australian) society but which CANNOT possibly contribute to society in a positive way.
Sportspeople are now being motivated and coached to believing in themselves and thier causes to the entext that they no longer believe that the normal laws and mores of society apply to them. I've had many opportunities to personally observe the behaviour of elite athletes, and there is no doubt in my mind, that the word "special" often goes to thier head and can be grotesquely mis-interpreted to allow athletes to believe they are above the law.
While the violence at yesterdays game was not as outrageous as the press would apear to hysterically indicate, and certainly not as bad as two club GAA incidents that i have been part of, it still would appear that the reason ireland did not win is not that they were not prepared to win at all costs, it's just that they were not as good at "winning at all costs" as the Australians were.
The major point of all this is that we were always conditioned to believe that participation in sport was an excellent preperation for life and that it passed along values of fairness, competitiveness, courage and discipline. The descent from those olympian ideals has been stark, so to be an elite athlete nowadays often involves cheating, drugs, violence, singlemindedness and an obsession to win.... i'm not so sure anymore if sport offers a healthy route.
In the 19th and 20th centuries the Military was the place to prove your might, your prowess, your patriotism, the fact that this involved sacrifice, discipline and official hyprocisy that occassionally led to brutality, rape, and murder was overlooked for the cause. I have a feeling that todays elite sportspeople are being brainwashed in the same way and motivated to believe that the occassional bit of violence, roasting, cheating or thuggery is ok, after all, haven't they shown the sacrifice and discipline needed.
Unless they can control this game, they should stop the series, but society must further realise that it's not the game that's at fault here, it's the mentality that is being driven into young men and women. We don't need the compromise rules to show us that, all we have to do is see the Galway hurling final.
There is something rotten in the state of Denmark.
